Marketing

Jillian Simmons wrote the paper and helped with marketing.
Brent did most of the marketing and organized the practice workshop. Kelly also helped with marketing.

Marketing

Jillian Simmons

Ball State University

Introduction

The purpose and goals of this group’s marketing plan for the Big Read program is to reach as many people as possible through the facility in which we are holding the event, Morris Woods Health Campus. We are also hoping to reach more people through Big Brothers Big  Sisters, an organization that agreed to promote the program by spreading the word to their members. The main purpose of our marketing plan, in regards to Morris Health Woods, is to not only reach the residents of the facility but to also reach the employers and employees of the facility and the family members of the residents in order to provide an event where the employers, employees, and family members of the residents can enjoy an educational and fun-filled event with the residents.

“The most common purpose of marketing is to impart information about a service, product or idea in order that people may identify, seek, or support these offerings. Marketing helps people to identify what an organization, company or person does. It assists people in seeking specific services or products. Marketing also imparts information to potential supporters of a cause, idea or program.” (Burkhart, 1995, p. 5)

 Another purpose of our marketing plan is to get residents interested in an event that will entertain them, raise their interest in reading, have an open discussion with their friends and family about the themes of the book such as technology and the burning of books, and to watch the film version of the book. The main purpose of reaching Big Brothers Big Sisters through our marketing plan is to get both mentors and mentees in the organization interested in reading together as well as individually and encouraging open discussions about literature.

The goal of our marketing plan is to get everyone from both organizations, which consists of people ranging from young to elderly, to come together in one place to discuss and share their experiences and their views of the content in the book and its themes. It is also a chance for them to all discuss the comparisons and contrasts of the book from the movie. Our biggest goal is to encourage the participants of the workshop to want to read more as well as want to participate in other Big Read events. Our goal is reach a maximum of 50 people and a minimum of 20 people.

Marketing Strategies

            The first step of our marketing strategy was to try and reach organizations through telemarketing and email. We called a plethora of organizations and facilities, such as Morris Woods Health Campus, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware County, The Boys and Girls Club, Ball Memorial Hospital, Westminster Village of Muncie, Muncie Central High School, The American Electric Power Company, and many more. We had spoken to Larry Strange about what marketing strategies we should use. He advised us to not start out asking for financial support, because that would take more time than we had to get the workshop up and running. He advised us to ask organizations and facilities for help spreading the word about the event and having the event at their facility. We called the list of facilities he gave us and explained the Big Read program. We asked if they would spread the word about the program to their members and if we could have our event at their facility. Most of the organizations and facilities said that they needed more information before even spreading the word and all, but one, Morris Woods Health Campus said that we could hold the event at their facility. The next step in our marketing plan was to email all of the organizations and facilities information, including a newsletter written by the professor and the url to the program’s website. We continued to call the facilities, but most them said no. Morris Woods Health Campus agreed to let us have the event there and Big Brothers Big Sisters agreed to spread the word to their members.

The next step in our marketing plan was to have a practice workshop at Morris Woods Health Campus, where we would discuss the book and any questions the residents and workers of the facility had about the event. “Adult educators frequently provide workshops to share information and further their professional development.” (Burkhart, 1995, p. 11) During this practice workshop, 5 residents who were interested in attending the event were present. There was 1 employee present, which we thought was very important because “It is key that management encourages staff development, endorses the instruction to be provided, and recognizes the benefits of hosting a workshop.” (Glackin, Folkner, 2009, p. 76) We discussed the event with the residents. We told them what the book was about along with giving them ten copies of the book to read before the event. We told them about the movie we would watch during the event and some of the themes we would discuss.  We also asked them if they had any ideas or people outside of the facility who may be interested in also attending. One the residents was involved in Association of Lifelong Learners, a somewhat political group that consists mostly of people of elderly age that were once educators. They met on Thursdays at the E.B. Ball Center. She invited us to come to one of the meetings to pass out flyers and to discuss the event with other members. Brent agreed that he would go to their next meeting to bring flyers and discuss the event with them. Some of the other residents brought up the names of other residents living at Morris Woods Health Campus that would be interested in the book and coming to the event. Some of them were not able to read well, so we also brought the big print version of the book and the soundtrack, which reads the book out loud. We also gave the facility employee a copy of the movie. We asked the residents if there was anything particular they would like to do during the event, such as have snacks or games for them to play. They said that the discussion and the movie was enough. We were planning to have the event from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m., but one of the residents suggested having it a half an hour to an hour longer. We agreed that it would be as long as they wanted within the time confinements of the facility. Before ending the practice workshop, we talked more about the book in relation to current events and the burning of books. Many of them did not believe that people would burn books. This lead to an idea to also include a small slideshow presentation of places and events where the burning of books has actually occurred. “Clear communication directed to your clients’ interests, needs, and educational levels helps lessen the chance for a communication breakdown.” (Smith, 1987, p. 3)

Another strategy we used to get people interested in the event was posting the event to our Facebook and Twitter accounts to help spread to the words to our friends and family. We are also sending out an email that will go out to all the students and faculty at Ball State University. Two of the members of this group are faculty members and teachers at Ball State University. We are offering extra credit to our students in order to get them to come out and join the event.

In table 2 in organizations, we discussed the reasons why the organizations we chose to target would be good organizations to promote the Big Read program. We learned from one of the sources that the first thing you should do when marketing is “identify groups of potential learners, to decide who will be targeted, to determine the needs of the target group, and to actively promote the program to the prospective learners.” (Douglass, Valentine, Cervero, 1999, p. 3)

 Two out of the five organizations that we chose are agreeing to participate in the event, Morris Woods Health Campus and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Morris Woods Health Campus was chosen, because we would have a captive audience interested in reading and participating and support from the management for the program.  The Big Read program would also help aging minds stay active, which would help to maintain mental health. Our marketing strategies focused on how we can relate the Big Read program to the elderly residents and the faculty. We discussed with the faculty during phone conversations that it would help with their mental health as well as give them something productive to do that was out of the ordinary in the daily routines. We discussed with the elderly residents different themes in the book that we thought would spark their interest, such as the burning of the books. The Big Brothers Big Sisters organization was chosen, because they can use the Big Read activities through their volunteers as a learning and bonding activity with the youth they serve. When we spoke to Big Brothers Big Sisters over the phone, we described it as an activity for the mentors and mentees to participate in an educational activity together. We also described it as a chance for them to be surrounded by people of older ages that can share their life experiences and perspectives with those of younger ages as a way to spark their interest in reading and continuing their education. “Adults bring a wealth of experience into the classroom. Pedagogical approaches should incorporate students’ experience into education.” (Kilgore, 2003, p. 84)

 Big Brothers Big Sisters was able to help support the Big Read program by spreading the word. Morris Woods Health Campus was able to help the Big Read program by not only allowing us to have the event at their facility, but also by spreading the word throughout the facility as well as outside the facility to other organizations that the residents had connections with.

Budget

The budget is set at $50. There are only a few expenses that will have to be paid for out of the budget, which are for refreshments for the participants. All other resources, such as the books, the movie, flyers, using social media, the telephone, and email to reach out to organizations and facilities, were free. The refreshments, which consists of cookies and drinks, should be under $50 as were are buying enough to feed only fifty people. Popcorn served by the facility will also be free. The movie and slideshow will be shown with technology that is already owned, such as the tv at the facility and HDMI cord and laptop owned by members of the group.

Marketing activities and results:

Marketing Activities	Organizations/Facilities	Results
·       Contacted and communicated by phone, email, and in-person ·       Held a practice workshop ·       Handed out books and brochures	Morris Woods Health Campus	·       Agreed to let us have the event at their facility ·       Suggested another organization to reach out to ·       Reached the facility employees and residents ·        Estimated number = 25
·       Contacted and communicated by phone, email, and in-person ·       Handed out brochures	Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware County	·       Agreed to spread the word and hand out brochures
·       Contacted and communicated by phone and email	Westminster Village of Muncie	Westminster Village declined our request for assistance in promoting Big Read citing disruption from current construction activities.
·       Contacted and communicated by phone and email	Ball Memorial Hospital	Never returned calls or emails

            An event public event page was set up on Facebook. This event was also posted to our Facebook pages. This event was sent out to over 1,000 people. As of now, no one has responded to the event.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1479558062350888/

There were also tweets sent out about the event:

            So far, there have been no responses to the tweet. However, it has been tweeted to over 100 people.

Brochures have been handed out to the Big Brothers Big Sisters and Morris Woods Health Campus. There were also brochures that were given to the Association of Lifelong Learners. There were over 100 brochures distributed to these organizations and facility. There were brochures distributed in our classes, which estimates that about 25 people were reached out to.

Others forms of marketing were also attempted by contacting journalism students and members of different Ball State organizations to help spread the word through media and word of mouth.

Reflection

            The highlights of completing this assignment was figuring out what worked best with getting people and organizations on board with the Big Read Program. After making phone calls and sending out email didn’t get us any positive responses, we started showing up in person and making meetings with people in charge at facilities, which gained us a place to have our event, promises to promote the event, and connections to other organizations.

The process of this assignment was timely, but we learned a lot about organizing, marketing, and planning an event. The lessons we learned were that it is better to approach people in person and having a face-to-face conversation with them in order gain more positive responses. It is also a better way to get an understanding of the organization, what they are about, and the ways you can connect your program with their program. We learned that it is better to have all of the information about your program when reaching out to people instead of just providing them with basic information. Having meetings and practice workshops with organizations also helps with marketing and planning as it gives both you and the organization a look of how your event will go and what should be incorporated in your event to make it even better and more appealing to the people who will be attending. As a group, we learned that communicating and coming up with ideas helps a lot with organizing. We also tried to all be there whenever we had meetings just in case one person in the group had an idea or information that another person did not have. This also helps in ensuring the organization that the people running the event are hands-on and are serious about running the event in a non-messy manner. We learned a lot about budgeting. The only thing that is going to cost us is having refreshments for the participants of the event. The movie and slideshow presentation will be shown using a television that is already at the facility and an HDMI cord and computer that is already owned by us. Chairs, tables, and a large room will also be provided by the facility for free. We have found that by using technology, it really cuts down on costs.

Tables and pictures/used:

Purpose	To reach as many people as possible through contacting and communicating with different organizations
Goals	Reaching about 50 people and finding a place to have the event
Marketing strategies	Contacting and communicating with organizations and facilities by phone, email, social media, and in-person
Marketing activities	Creating a public event page on Facebook, tweeting about the event on Twitter, handing out brochures, having a practice workshop at the facility where the event will be held
Marketing results	Connections were made with different organizations. Two, and possibly three, organizations agreed to spread the word. One organization/facility agreed to let us have the event at the facility and residents and employees have agreed to come. Over 600 were reached about the event.
Budget	The budget is $50, but only about half of that will be utilized for refreshments. All of the other resources will be free and used with technology.

References

Burkhart, J. (1995). Marketing Workplace Education to Business. Colorado, Denver: Colorado State Dept. of Education, Denver. State Library and Adult Education Office.

Kilgore, D. (2003). Planning Programs for Adults. New Directions For Student Services, (102), 81

Glackin, B. C., & Folkner, C. A. (2009). Planning, Organizing, and Hosting a Workshop—It's All in the Details. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 47(1), 74-89. doi:10.1080/01639370802455216

Smith, B. (1987). Marketing your adult literacy program: A "how to" manual. New York: New York State Adult Literacy Program

Douglas, K. H., Valentine, T., & Cervero, R. M. (1999). Marketing Adult Literacy Education: Administratirs' Perceptions of Effective Strategies for Program Development. Adult Basic Education, 9(2), 104